Winning Market Share in Uncertain Times

Amidst COVID-19 and its implications, we’ve seen a large amount of uncertainty in the external marketplace and amongst our own teams. Truthfully, nobody knows how many lives will be affected, how impacted the economy will be, and when business will be able to operate normally again.

Because of the uncertainty, we’ve seen sales and marketing teams shut down across the country. Companies are choosing to shell up and pursue layoffs because they don’t believe they can bring in enough revenue to sustain themselves.

But this doesn’t have to happen to everyone. It will happen to a large percentage of each market, but there will also be a part of the market that becomes bullish and uses this time of uncertainty as an opportunity. In times like these, the weight of survival & growth is placed on a company’s ability to sustain revenue from their current accounts, adapt & create winning solutions for current deals in their pipeline, and market to decision-makers looking for solutions.

Here’s why these companies are optimistic about their ability to win market share from their competition at this time.

Mid-level decision makers are on halt

General managers and regional leaders no longer have the decision-making authority and budget control they did a month ago. Purchases and company initiatives are becoming more centralized as these decisions are routed up to the C-suite level. That means, if you take the time to understand the business objectives of the c-suite and focus your marketing, business development, and sales activity towards them – you can get right in front of the empowered decision maker in a time of need. For company’s that are keeping their externally-focused staff productive, this is exciting news as they can access decision makers and have conversations they couldn’t before without getting stalled out due to decision making authority.

Companies are experimenting in times of crisis

The average business and business owner is in absolute shock right now as they don’t know what is coming next. However, because of this uncertainty, they are willing to make changes and take action in order to improve their position. Think about a prospective company that your organization hasn’t been able to penetrate – they may say things like “Oh, X organization already has us covered for that” or “Sorry, but I’ve been with Y corporation for years. I’m not willing to reconsider.” But in times like these, organizations are evaluating their supply chain & financial situation more than ever. Top organizations and sales teams recognize this time as an opportunity to engage previously locked accounts to showcase why they could be a better solution in terms of results delivered, risks mitigated, pricing & terms, and better fit.

Selling has gone virtual

Relationship selling and field sales by themselves are no longer sustainable sales models. Think about how downright inappropriate it will be for your sales team to ask a prospect if they can just “come out and see them” or “take them out to dinner” in the upcoming future. Instead of relying on outdated sales models, the world has embraced virtual selling as the preferred method of conducting business. Virtual selling’s benefits have already been lingering in professional marketing/sales world for the past 10+ years as we’ve seen software-based and fortune 1000 companies leveraging these models exclusively. In times of uncertainty, companies that can bring together a virtual prospecting model (data collection, marketing communications, personal selling) to set a meeting via video conferencing where they will assess the prospect’s business objectives and feasibility of working together, followed by the creation and bi-directional video conference presentation of a proposal, and finishing with digital closing & negotiation techniques will advance their market share.

This sustainment and growth of organizational revenue will come down to the daily strategy & execution of your organization’s marketing & sales teams. Many will be hurt during this time – but some will come out stronger than before. Market share favors those that go out & chase it in times of uncertainty… model your team’s activities based on these three points to improve your organization through this time.

As always, we are thinking of our B2B leaders & sales teams. We’ve opened our operating hours to 24/7 to be here for you. Come lean on us if you need help getting your sales through this time.